I have never played WarMachine (any edition) but have always drooled over the figures and player's painting, so it's really great that this is being made available for free. This manual looks great on the screen. The art is dramatic, atmospheric and of a high standard. The text is selectable which means that in most PDF browsers a word or phrase search can be used to find rules. Diagrams are clear. I can't comment on rules in play because I'm way too much of a novice with WM, but it all looks well written at first glance. Thank you for making this available whilst I'm on a tight budget. :)
-Billiam B.

A sophisticated piece of paper crafting which really pushes the PDF format to it's limits. Kev's Lounge Dungeon Furniture Pack allows the dungeon crafter to select different textures of floor, grime and materials along with toggling the level of design complexity. Confident paper engineers will find the furniture nets straightforward to assemble, whilst some of us might occasionally need to ask an adult for help when cutting out the smaller tabs. ;)
An absolute bargain at the reduced price (still worth it at the full price).
KL is putting some of the competition to shame.
Watch this guy, he's dangerously talented!

I'm really enjoying browsing this large map -especially from the perspective of it's use as a "fits-all" map - the version, that is, without labels. This map looks as good as, if not better than, some of the colour Middle Earth maps from ICE. CSP have developed a style that is both computer-crisp whilst remaining respectful hand drawn styles in vintage maps. Very good value, considering it's usefulness even in part for encounters in the wilderness or larger campaign building. Exquisite!

(Purchased copy) When I finally run that low level old-school campaign, these goblins and hobgoblins will be an essential adversary. Like with other Okumarts products - the zip file contains a layered PDF with double-sided trim-to-measure figures and comprehensive document use and assembly instructions

The layers provide access to six different colours of 6 unique hobgoblin and seven goblin designs, with a bonus figure layer of 10 bonus humanoid figures.

I haven't printed mine as yet, but Okumarts provide plenty of photos of the figures in use on their Tumblr page (okumarts.tumblr.com).

The hobgoblins will please DMs who want to represent their Hobgoblins as portrayed in the earliest AD&D Monster Manual and illustrations from the B modules. Those orange skinned beefy meanies had an aspect of oriental ronin-samurais or Mongolian Huns. The goblins, however, are both retro-simple -they are naughty cowl-clad serfs- and yet modern, like those depicted Pathfinder rules. The latter are a fun, animated bunch of hoodlums (perhaps how the goblins in The Hobbit should have been).

(Purchased Copy)
I may write a longer review for this in a bit, but I'd like to say that the genius of this product is it's dice based simplicity. I was surprised to see that that author has now added a card deck -since the game is totally playable from the text. One of the reviews above implies that flipping backwards and forwards through document is a negative, but if you like solo-games, you may also be a fan of solo gamebooks - and believe me, there's a lot less moving between sections than there are in a T&T or Fighting Fantasy gamebook. The system is very accessible and the mission play reminds me of games like Warhammer Quest (without figures or massive floorplans)- but the beauty of this is that all you need is the text - perhaps separate out a few pages - like your character sheet - a pencil and a small area to roll dice in. This is the perfect rainy day game. Also it's an ideal imagination builder for younger players because the encounters and system is simple enough to be accessible to new players, and the re-playability factor is very high. This sort of product demonstrates a type of tabulated resourcefulness which not appreciated by many modern game writers and players, where the thrill of structured-but-random play brings the thrill of the gamble back to a genre clogged up with strategic power play. It definitely feels "old school" -but the better elements of the older games which required minimal gaming aids. The solo-play campaigning has more possibilities in this product than in solo texts many times it's size. It's also ripe for home-ruling, once you get confident with the structure of the game (nos of encounters/scenes etc.).
Excellent.

Vos Donjons Comme Vous Le Voulez "Your dungeons -as you like them" is an 11 page dungeon accessory pack which seems deceptively small considering its many applications. I thought at first that the pages 1-5 were A4/letter size battlemats, but no, EC is going back to the early days of trim-to-fit floor plans - much easier when you're not using walls - basically the "black spaces" between the cut-out shapes become the walls - as is the way of the old Dungeon Floorplans and some modern irregular tiles. Included as well as these flagstone designs are stairs, doorways, beds, a table and chest (the furniture is 3D). Eric has had considerable experience in drawing fantasy heroes, so it comes as no surprise that he also includes 11 flat-foldable back-to-back minis on simple circular bases.

The price may seem a little high ($10.40 as I type), but if you're a fan of MB HeroQuest game boards, Warhammer Quest and DungeonBowl then you will appreciate where Eric Chaussin is coming from with his one-size fits all "Old School Dungeons". The graphic work is bold and slick, also it looks relatively easy to assemble. This is a perfect basic starter pack for use with a straightforward dungeon setting.

I really like the art and ingenuity of Skeleton Key's 2E Adventure Tiles Labyrinth Core Set. You get a whopping 73 small square tiles. There are two main types of exit - and a mixture of curved walls with straights. The light grey browns will give you a maze reminiscent of dusty classical settings or from the films like Labyrinth or Barbarella, whilst still fitting within grey castle environments.

As with many geomorphic designs, some referees may not like the fact that players can see beyond the walls to an inaccessible part of a tile, but I'm sure that a creative DM can find an explanation to allow for this meta-game awareness - perhaps just a sense that there's a hollow chamber or corridor beyond the wall - all the party need to do is go around the next corner to get there... - which is pretty much what mazes are about. Certainly, the visual impact and compressed nature of the tiles mean that a maze will feel less laborourious than elongated zig zagging corridors. It might be a bit of a struggle to run 4E D&D encounters in such small areas, but many other FRP rules should be okay.

Pwork's (Paper Wargames) Fantasy Tiles Master Dungeon Set appears to be a fantasy offshoot of their Space Hulk inspired sci-fi sets. I'm guessing that this would explain why the squares are 3cm wide which is friendly to larger Warhammer bases. There's not a great deal of margin space on the pages, but as a result very little paper or card will be wasted which is a plus.
I rather like the stand-up doors but I haven't tried to construct them since the instructions in my copy are in Italian only and there's no self-explanatory tabs in the designs. The dungeon pieces would make a very satisfying blocky set of basic floor plans especially if glued to corrugated card or foam card.
The larger scale puts me off these a little, but the art is good and all of the parts and props are generic enough for simple dungeons ran in many systems. This is a fairly good value product for 24 pages, with repeatable designs at $7.
Very professional and good looking.
Certainly worth considering if your figures seem a little crowded on that 1-inch scale battlemat. :)
Billiam B.
bit.ly/rpgblog

(Please also see Christopher H.'s review which sums up this set better then my babbles)
LZW are providing customers with a respectable alternative to Fat Dragon's packs. LZW seem to be doing some fairly clever things with PDF layers by allowing the customer to choose different feature details. So make sure you have the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader before looking an LZW product. I reckon that this is one of those deceptive packs, i.e the cover displays a mere handful of walls and pillars, when you are in fact buying a complete modular building system for dungeon interiors and small stone buildings. Seriously inventive stuff!
Billiam B.
bit.ly/rpgblog

I am always intrigued by real pen and ink (usually so I can steal ideas, ahem, I mean learn techniques...). Volumes 1 and 2 of Torn World's Hand-Drawn Cities are for the more discerning map appreciator. These two black and white products nestle amongst the other gorgeous colour maps and accessories provided by Torn World, but for me these are the bright treasures. Everywhere you look in these sprawling cities there are details, and yet they are plain enough to make those cities your own. As is the fashion these days, the PDF comes with graphics files (.png and jpg) which can be imported into other packages (perhaps you would like to give to different districts your own shades your reference?) All of Alyssa Faden's cities appear to have grown organically, developing in sections - the awkward geometries imply social history and civil expansion. Every block of buildings is depicted, so that the streets are very detailed. However, the details do create a flaw when using the graphics files... Basically, these maps will make you want to zoom right into street level, which results in mild blur and pixelation. Again, I have to stress that this is because the overhead detail is so amazing that you just have to see how far it goes! The good news is that all of the files in these packs are small enough in size to be usable in many applications and platforms without any sluggish scrolling. Bonus.
-Billiam B.
bit.ly/rpgblog

I am always intrigued by real pen and ink (usually so I can steal ideas, ahem, I mean learn techniques...). Volumes 1 and 2 of Torn World's Hand-Drawn Cities are for the more discerning map appreciator. These two black and white products nestle amongst the other gorgeous colour maps and accessories provided by Torn World, but for me these are the bright treasures. Everywhere you look in these sprawling cities there are details, and yet they are plain enough to make those cities your own. As is the fashion these days, the PDF comes with graphics files (.png) which can be imported into other packages (perhaps you would like to give to different districts your own shades your reference?) All of Alyssa Faden's cities appear to have grown organically, developing in sections - the awkward geometries imply social history and civil expansion. Every block of buildings is depicted, so that the streets are very detailed. However, the details do create a flaw when using the graphics files... Basically, these maps will make you want to zoom right into street level, which results in mild blur and pixelation. Again, I have to stress that this is because the overhead detail is so amazing that you just have to see how far it goes! The good news is that all of the files in these packs are small enough in size to be usable in many applications and platforms without any sluggish scrolling. Bonus.
-Billiam B.
bit.ly/rpgblog

More very professional art from CSP. The PDF is for printing whereas the jpg is for moving around in your chosen VTT software, hi-tech game table or tablet. It's always nice to have the option.
Download this, you have nothing to lose. If you like the style his other forest maps are modestly priced.

The art is clear, textured, detailed with just a hint of a tribal magic design and yet generic enough to resemble a part of any dungeon setting. Since the 80s I've always preferred floor plans where the grid is actually part of the flagstone design - it always made the environment more "immersive" visually speaking - which is exactly what we have here. The 6-inch tiles, with wide margins, should print well on any printer without any need for rescaling.

The individual tile layout is specific -usually an entrance on one side and an open area on two sides- so that a large room area is always created with four tiles- but tessellations mean that many compelling layouts are possible. The inclusion of stairs and transitions between levels is a nice touch. Perfect as an encounter environment or "just-passing-through" on your dungeon crawl.

I'm really getting into square tiles these days. This is the second print pack by Rusty Axe - it's compatible with the first and any 1inch tile system you are already using.

The dungeon rooms are nice and blocky with solid walls and enough space to imply mighty architecture or a well dug area. The room shapes are square based which is practical - for they allow for expanded or shortened rooms of the same width. The floor tiles are suitably dusty and coloured with just enough sandy-yellow to infer that it is desert tomb/pyramid environment.

The special gem on the last page is the grid of cut-out sarcophagi, a well, skeletons, thrones etc. Ideal for those desert tombs adventures - possibly also applicable to Indy Jones contemporary pulp style games.